I am considering the Cleveland Clinic as well, but I'm a bit further away in Las Vegas. That's probably a 4.5 hour flight or a 30 hour drive. More realistically for me, I'd probably be considering the flight versus a 6 hour drive to my parents' house about an hour south of Indy. My dad suggested we do that and stay there for at least a week or so to see how I'm feeling, but the hardest part of going to Indiana for me is that my girlfriend will need to fly back to Vegas earlier for work. I'm not sure I'll want her so far away for so long.
I have not talked to Cleveland Clinic extensively about traveling because I feel like enough people travel there from decent distances, it is just a little detail I'll need to figure out. I did ask them how many trips total I would need to make out there, and they told me probably only one. They said regardless of what tests I have had done, they will want to redo all of them before surgery, so they would want me out there 3-5 days before surgery. I could then meet with the surgeon after the tests, have surgery, and then stick around a few days before flying home.
I also had a phone call with a guy yesterday that had his bicuspid aortic valve repaired by Dr. Svensson around May of 2015. He lives in San Francisco. He told me he made one trip to Cleveland, had all the tests, was in the hospital for about 5 days total, stayed in Cleveland for 5 additional days, saw a cardiologist, and then flew home. He said the flight definitely was not pleasant, but he made it. He'd do it again to get to Cleveland if he had to, and when he talked to the Cleveland Clinic, he said a nurse pretty much laid out everything for him about what he would need to do, thereby leaving nothing for him to really do except make the arrangements following their guidelines and go through with the plan.
He also noted that he did fly home first class with his wife, and he was comfortable enough that the timeline was certain that he booked his return flight before surgery. As others have said on this forum, he also said the airline was helpful at the airport.
Finally, I recall someone else on this forum saying they had about a 4 hour drive home after surgery. I think they said they stopped to walk about once every hour and made it without too much difficulty.
